Dragon of the lost sea [Hardcover]

Laurence Yep (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1982

Shimmer, a renegade dragon princess, tries to redeem herself by capturing a witch with the help of a human boy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Yep's sweeping fantasy tells of Shimmer, an exiled dragon princess, who must team up with a boy to try to restore her dragon clan's lost home. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Laurence Yep is the acclaimed author of more than sixty books for young people and a winner of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award. His illustrious list of novels includes the Newbery Honor Books Dragonwings and Dragon's Gate; The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, a Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee; and The Dragon's Child: A Story of Angel Island, which he cowrote with his niece, Dr. Kathleen S. Yep, and was named a New York Public Library's "One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing" and a Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book.

Mr. Yep grew up in San Francisco, where he was born. He attended Marquette University, graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and received his PhD from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He lives in Pacific Grove, California, with his wife, the writer Joanne Ryder.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 213 pages
• Publisher: Harper & Row; 1st edition (1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060267461
• ISBN-13: 978-0060267469
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,153,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laurence Yep has been fascinated with tales of sibling rivalry from the day he was born. His older brother, Tom, chose his name Laurence - after a saint who died a particularly gruesome death. Laurence has been trying to get even ever since. Laurence Yep now lives in Pacific Grove, California, with his wife and is one of children's literature's most respected authors. His award-winning titles include Newbery Honor Books Dragonwings and Dragon's Gate.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dragon of the Lost Sea, April 3, 2000

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dragon of the Lost Sea (Dragon Series) (Paperback)

An intriguing and unique fantasy story based on Chinese mythos, written in Yep's captivating style.

It features an exiled dragon princess named Shimmer, who is impressed by the courage and fairness of a young boy named Thorn. After a warrior of the witch Civet attacks Thorn, Shimmer saves him and takes him away from his abusive master.

Civet once stole the sea belonging to the race of dragons and confined it in a pebble, leaving it a salt-covered wasteland. Shimmer, who has a terrible secret of her own, has decided to find her and reclaim the waters of her home. They set out across the sea and meet the mischievous and irritating Monkey, then find Civet after she floods a village.

The dialogue is snappy and amusing, and the descriptions are well-done, especially the beautiful visions of the dragons' seas, prior to their draining by Civet. Yep strikes an excellent balance between spare prose and descriptive prose, placing each where it belongs.
<b!r>Shimmer's tough shell (she has both a literal and figurative one) is an effective shield against the kind
of hurt that she has suffered in the past, given her rejection prior to this book. Her attempts to rebuff Thorn, or to convince him that she doesn't need his help and can do things perfectly well on her own, are as unconvincing to the readers as they are to Thorn. She needs a friend, though she does not wish to admit it.

An effective counterbalance to her cynicism and I-don't-need-anybody attitude is Thorn, an intelligent and optimistic young boy, who was basically enslaved at an inn with an abusive master. He becomes Shimmer's friend after his rescue, wanting to help her out of sheer kindness. The situations in which he jolts her out of her huffs are entertaining and snappily written.

An excellent, classic fantasy, well worth the while of the reader.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent fantasy full of wonderful characters., August 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dragon of the Lost Sea (Dragon Series) (Paperback)

Humans are usually thought of as the superior creatures to dragons and magicians. But in this book, the tables turn and humans move from the shotgun seat to the back of the bus. Dragons become invinceable creatures. Dragons have their problems too in this book: evil magicians, powers that can be stolen. We liked this book because anything could happen in this fantasy world and because there was the interesting twist that humans were inferior to all other races. We recommend this book for adventurous readers who don't feel the need for humans to be the best. The Newton Boys Reading Circle (Ben, Danny and David)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best fantasy books I have ever read, December 14, 2000

By 

"kandladin" (Castle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dragon of the Lost Sea (Dragon Series) (Paperback)

I have always loved reading mythology of all kinds and though I had dabbled a bit in chinese here and there I didn't take a real interest in it until I read this book. The story is told from the point of veiw of Shimmer, an outcast dragon princess who has lost her home, her family, and everything she ever cared about. At first she seems content to wander the world alone and search for a way to help her lost people, but then she meets Thorn, an orphan human boy, who is also somewhat of an outcast among his people. At first they seem an unlikely match, but gradually they begin to understand they are two of a kind and begin to build a strong caring companionship. This book has excelent character development, and breathtaking discriptions, as well as realistic action scenes. The writing is good and easy to comprehend. I would reccamend this book to any fantasy fan, though people 10 to 15 would probably enjoy it best.